Move over Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante is a spectacular gigantic painting by the Chinese artists Dai Dudu, Li Tiezi, and Zhang An (2006, oil on canvas). The original is an impressive 20′ x 8.5′ (6m x 2.6m). If you go to this link, there is a very large high-quality image that lets you hover your mouse over faces to see who they are, with a Wikipedia link. Where’s Lewis Carroll?

Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante - by Dai Dudu, Li Tiezi, and Zhang An (2006, oil on canvas)

Hint: Lewis Carroll is literally hiding. I love how Darwin and Noah seem to be the same person. Also, when you click on the camel, it takes you to a list of “celebrities that look like camels.” There’s a further discussion of some of the clever quirks of the painting here at Convivium. For instance, “Leonardo da Vinci worked for evil rulers such as Cesare Borgia and here he listens politely to Stalin’s mad schemes.”

Paintings inspired by Alice from the brush of Scottish artist Marie Wrightson are currently on display at the Leith Gallery in Edinburgh. If popping over to Scotland this week isn’t in your schedule, you can see the artwork on the Leith Gallery website.

Wrightson, who is based in the town of Auchtermuchty, paints in oils on themes of childhood and fantasy.

Marie Louise Wrightson "The March Hare"

Marie Louise Wrightson "Alice's Mad Hatter"

Marie Louise Wrightson "Pool of Tears"

Wrightson’s paintings are part of a “Down the Rabbit Hole” month at the Leith Gallery. Other Wonderland-inspired art on display includes stained glass sculptures of Cheshire cats and mimsy borogroves by Emma Butler-Cole Aitken, jewelry by Pauline Eadie, and Wonderland bronzes from the Robert James Workshop. The latter were previously exhibited at the Hampton Court Flower Show, and are rumored to be at this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show. The exhibition will run until the end of this month.